2012 Top 20 Prospects: Chicago Cubs & St. Louis Cardinals

It’s that time of the year ladies and gentlemen. With Spring Training quickly approaching, it is time to look at your future. You won’t see very many of these guys this season, but these are the kids that your organization is counting on to make an impact in the big leagues during the next 3-5 years.

You could find your next Tim Lincecum or Justin Verlander in here. Maybe one of these guys can pan out to be the next Hanley Ramirez or Mark Teixeira. Or maybe not. Some will work out, some won’t. It is just the nature of the business.

However, I can guarantee to you that you will find a handful of stars between the 40 prospects. About 7-10 more guys will be decent – good players. And 7-10 more will be your utility/relief pitcher types. The other half will never see a second of major league action.

You guys know how an A-F grading scale works. A=Very good, B=Good, C=Average, and there are no D’s or F’s in these rankings. This is NOT how good they are. It is weighted on a mixture of 3 things: Potential Ceiling, Distance from that Potential, and Past Performance.

*Grades will be explained in further detail come the update.

Chicago Cubs

1. 1B Anthony Rizzo (A-)

2. CF Brett Jackson (A-)

3. SS Javier Baez (B+)

4. CF Matt Szczur (B+)

5. SS Junior Lake (B+)

6. RHP Trey McNutt (B)

7. RHP Dillon Maples (B)

8. RHP Rafael Dolis (B)

9. 1B Dan Vogelbach (B)

10. 3B Josh Vitters (B-)

11. 2B Zeke Devoss (B-)

12. C Wellington Castillo – (C)

13. RHP Dae-Eun Rhee (C)

14. 3B Jeimer Candelario (C)

15. RF Reggie Golden (C)

16. RHP Chris Carpenter (C)

17. RHP Robert Whitenack (C)

18. SS Marco Hernandez (C-)

19. RHP Dallas Beeler (C-)

20. 2B Ronald Torreyes (C-)

St. Louis Cardinals

1. RHP Shelby Miller (A++)

2. RHP Carlos Martinez (A)

3. RHP Tyrell Jenkins (A-)

4. OF Oscar Martinez (B+)

5. 2B Kolten Wong (B)

6. 3B Zach Cox (B-)

7. RHP Eduardo Sanchez (B-)

8. RHP Jordan Swagerty (C+)

9. RHP Lance Lynn (C+)

10. 1B Matt Adams (C+)

11. 3B Matt Carpenter (C+)

12. OF Charlie Tilson (C)

13. RHP Trevor Rosenthal (C)

14. LHP John Gast (C)

15. SS Ryan Jackson (C)

16. RHP Maikel Cleto (C)

17. OF Tommy Pham (C)

18. RHP Joe Kelly (C)

19. RHP Brandon Dickerson (C-)

20. C Cody Stanley (C-)

This is simply the pre-rankings. By Wednesday, February 1st at 8 p.m., I will have a scouting report and in-depth analysis on each and every prospect on this list. So make sure to check back for more information on where these guys are at and when you should expect to see them at Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium.

EDIT: The update of this post is on hold until a couple days before Spring Training begins. This is for two reasons:

First, because the Cubs landed Concepcion and are also in pursuit of Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler. Concepcion will have to be placed in the Cubs top 10-15, though I have yet to decide where. If they are to acquire Cespedes or Soler, they also would need to be inserted into the Cubs top 5 prospects.

And second, because my write ups on each prospect are much longer than I had expected. The more I write, the more I’m getting into. However, with that comes time. These are 40 prospects each getting a very minimum of 2 paragraphs a piece. Some prospect write ups are approaching 4 or 5 paragraphs. I’m even surprising myself with how in-depth I have decided to go in this.

So trust me when I say it: This will be well worth the wait.

Keep checking back for a more accurate date as to when this list will be completed.